Wilson, the U.S.-born, Winnipeg-raised member of the Nashville Predators, wasn’t shy about sharing his disdain for the NHL commissioner after skating with a few Jets at the Iceplex, Thursday.

Wilson says the apparent emotion Bettman showed before the TV cameras last Thursday didn’t fool him for a New York minute, as Bettman “doesn’t care about the game, doesn’t care about the fans.”

“When you saw him at his last press conference, that was him showing emotion? And he’s going, ‘I just feel so bad for the fans,’ things like that. No he doesn’t,” Wilson said. “He’s mad that his strategy isn’t working.”

If you want an example of the mistrust that’s fuelling this dispute, look no further than this well-spoken, college-educated 23-year-old, who’s convinced Bettman is evil incarnate and has just one agenda: to carve as many pounds of flesh from the players as he can, so the owners can feast into the night.

Wilson stopped short (barely) of calling Bettman an idiot.

But unlike many observers, who figured Bettman was legitimately angry, Wilson says his last media address after talks broke down in New York last week was phony.

“I still think he came out trying to look mad, sway the media,” Wilson said. “That’s what they do. Everything they do is strategic. I’m pretty disgusted by it. I really don’t enjoy him. He doesn’t care for the game.”

And therein lies your problem.

The game could be burning down, with franchise pillars falling in major centres across the continent, but if the news came from Bettman’s mouth, the players wouldn’t believe it.

No wonder this fight is so difficult: it’s not just about this CBA, it’s about the last one and the next one, too.

The last time, the players lost a year and still caved to the owners’ demands for major pay cuts and a salary cap.

Now that’s not good enough.

“For me it’s not necessarily the money. It is just not being pushed around for the next CBA,” Wilson said. “They’re just telling us we need to be the ones to take the cut, even though they’re the ones who have, frankly, messed up, business-wise. I don’t know much about business, but they’re on record revenues ... and they’re still losing money. What are they doing with it?

“I don’t know what’s stopping them at the end of the next CBA, coming back and saying ‘You need to take less money.’ “

Wilson has every reason to want a deal.

Having completed his three-year entry-level contract and signed a new one, the seventh-overall pick in the 2008 draft came into the season on the cusp of establishing himself.

lf Wilson has hit the radar with a combined 31 goals the last two seasons, so has hockey in Nashville, where he spent the first month of the lockout.

“It’s funny, because the three years before that I never got recognized,” he said. “And I went back there and every single person came up to me and said, ‘Hey, when’s this lockout over? What’s going on with it?’

“It’s just been so much momentum in Nashville, personally and as a team, an organization. We’re selling out. Our fans are into it ... it’s too bad we aren’t there right now.”

Where they are is in a dark place for the second time in eight years, for the third time under the same commissioner.

Whether he’s putting on an act or not, it’s probably time for a new one.

Wilson, the U.S.-born, Winnipeg-raised member of the Nashville Predators, wasn’t shy about sharing his disdain for the NHL commissioner after skating with a few Jets at the Iceplex, Thursday.

Wilson says the apparent emotion Bettman showed before the TV cameras last Thursday didn’t fool him for a New York minute, as Bettman “doesn’t care about the game, doesn’t care about the fans.”

“When you saw him at his last press conference, that was him showing emotion? And he’s going, ‘I just feel so bad for the fans,’ things like that. No he doesn’t,” Wilson said. “He’s mad that his strategy isn’t working."